


let's fall in love for the night (and forget in the morning)

by chrvstenpress



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Soran - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-13 15:30:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21157688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrvstenpress/pseuds/chrvstenpress
Summary: "I’m gonna pick you up in like an hour and take you on a date and do my best to make you fall in love with me tonight. And if it doesn’t work out, we can forget it all happened in the morning.”“Make me fall in love with you in one night? You sound confident, Son.”orthe one where Lindsey thinks she loves Emily (and Emily takes a chance on them)





	1. play me a song that you like (you can bet I'll know every line)

**Author's Note:**

> yooo, this is new. I've only written preath so far so this was different but definitely fun to explore.
> 
> ****This one will be a few parts but I haven't decided how many yet.****
> 
> the title comes from Let's Fall in Love for the Night by Finneas
> 
> As always, enjoy and feel free to leave me comments or asks on my Tumblr @ chrvstenpress.tumblr.com !  
Thanks for reading!

“_Bet_. Any song, Linds. I’ll know it.”

They were lounging on Emily’s sectional couch in her Portland apartment. Lindsey was wearing one of Emily’s Adidas crewnecks, a pair of leggings, and medium length socks. Her legs were in Emily’s lap, a hard fought battle to keep them there due to Emily’s vehement protests.

“That’s no fair. You know I don’t listen to nearly as much music as you do and if I _ am _ listening to music, it’s probably one of your stupid playlists.”

“How _ dare _ you call my playlists stupid,” Emily gasps dramatically with a hand over her chest.

“One of them is called ‘LIME SCOOTS x GUCCI BOOTS.’ Who the hell names a playlist after rental scooters and expensive shoes? Shoes that you don’t even own.”

“But the _ rhyme _, Linds. You gotta do it for the rhyme.”

Lindsey lets out her Sonnett laugh (that’s what Ellie and Cait and Rose and Mal and Sam and even Tobin called it because apparently she only laughed something between a cackle and a giggle with Sonnett). 

“Whatever. It’s still not fair.”

“C’mon, Linds. One song. Look for something. I’m sure there’s at least one song you know that I didn’t show you.”

Lindsey rolls her eyes and pulls her phone out from between the couch cushions where it had fallen. Emily smirks, ready to win the bet. 

As Lindsey scrolled through random Apple Music playlists (because she knew Emily used Spotify), she was having trouble finding a song that 1. Emily hadn’t shown her or 2. She thought Emily probably wouldn’t know. 

Finally, she moved to her library and landed on Drifting by Nathan Ball. She heard it playing in the background of a Grey’s Anatomy episode and used the Shazam feature on Snapchat to find the name. 

“Got it.”

“Hit me,” Emily states confidently. 

Lindsey grabs the pillow from behind her head and launches it at the girl beneath her feet. 

“What the fuck?” Emily laughs. “What the heck was that for?” 

“You said to hit you,” Lindsey shrugs with a smile, her Sonnett laugh surfacing again.

“Okay, smartass. I didn’t mean with a pillow, I meant with your song - _ don’t you dare! _” She points a finger and raises the pillow that had been thrown at her with her other hand as Lindsey pretends to prepare to launch her phone at Emily. 

Lindsey laughs again as she movs to settle back down but her head hits the armrest instead of a pillow and she whines “Ow!” through a pouting laugh.

Emily chuckles back at her as she tosses the pillow onto Lindsey’s torso, foregoing the perfect opportunity to whack the girl back. 

“What’s the song?”

“Drifting. Nathan Ball.” 

Emily pulls her Spotify open and searches the name. She plays the song out loud and immediately recognizes it. She plays dumb for a minute, though, giving Lindsey false hope that she might actually win this bet. 

She keeps her head bowed, one arm crossed on her chest, hand tucked in the crevice of her arm that held phone near her ear, and eyebrows furrowed. Right before the chorus hits, she mutters, “Depressing.”

“So you don’t know it then?” Lindsey props herself onto her hands and her eyebrows raise in surprise. 

Emily smirks lightly and begins singing, “OOOOOOOH, I can feel it coming! See it in your eyes, see that you’re not right!” as loud as she could. Lindsey’s jaw drops and her weight falls back onto her forearms in partial shock and partial disappointment, but a smile still threatens her mouth as the girl in front of her sings the lyrics at the top of her lungs. 

“How? How the heck did you know that song?! You didn't show me that one!”

“I told you, Linds. Any song, I’d know it. Every line.”

It was true - Emily didn’t show Lindsey that song. In a way, Lindsey had kind of shown Emily. Unknowingly, of course. Emily was over at Lindsey’s apartment one day after practice and Lindsey had begged her to stay and watch Netflix with her. Emily wanted to watch Friends but Lindsey wanted to watch Grey’s Anatomy. 

_ “You just want to stare at a bunch of fake hot doctors!” _

_ “And you just wanna learn more stupid jokes from Joey.” _

_ Emily’s jaw slacked open slightly but the second she saw Lindsey’s victorious grin, she said, “How you doin’?” best Joey Tribbiani voice with a smirk, a head nod, and wiggling eyebrows. _

_ Lindsey laughed and muttered a “Shut up, idiot,” as she pressed play on Grey’s Anatomy, picking up where she left off. Emily didn’t give it any more debate after that. She knew she’d lose. Instead, she scrolled through Twitter, retweeting some Waffle House tweets, and tapped through Instagram stories. _

_ “You’re not even watching,” Lindsey mumbled as her face was pressed into a pillow on Emily’s lap. _

_ “Uh huh. McWeeny just kissed Dr.Bae.” She wasn't paying attention. She just altered some terms she had heard Lindsey use when she talked about the show with Rose and Mal. _

_ “McWeeny and Dr.Bae,” Lindsey let out slowly, “Yeah, okay.” _

_ She let it go the moment Emily’s fingers tangled into the ends of her hair and started playing with the strands. _

_ Emily still wasn't paying attention. She was too concerned with updating her LA CROIX x SRIRACHA playlist to give the show importance. But then she heard the background instrumentals of a song playing from the tv and listened closely for the lyrics. As soon as she had transcribed a sufficient amount of words into the search bar, she hit ‘go’ and was met with the song name and artist. She added the song to her Spotify library but not to any playlists and carried on threading her fingers through the small knots in Lindsey’s hair. _

“You’re unbelievable. I don’t know how you knew that song.”

“I know, I’m amazing. It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me,” Emily waves a hand in flattered dismissal. 

“You’ve got a big head.”

“To fit my big brain.”

“It’s all air.”

Emily couldn’t stop herself from laughing. She considered herself to be funny girl but Lindsey was pretty good at comebacks when she wanted to be.

When they settled and it got quiet, she asked, “How you doin’?” It wasn't a Joey voice this time. It was serious. 

Lindsey’s boyfriend had broken up with her two week prior. It was over a phone call. Lindsey was angry at first. He gave her some bullshit about not seeing her enough because if she wasn’t practicing, she was with her friends. She sarcastically answered back with an apology for living in different states and not being able to teleport to him as soon as she was done with soccer for the day. He scoffed. Something about how that wasn’t the point. She asked what was. 

_ “It’s the fact that even when you have free time and you’re not with them, you want to be with them. It’s never me.” _

_ “You're being a child. Don’t be so possessive.” _

_ “Possessive? What the fuck do I have to be possessive about if you act like you’re hers more than you are mine?” _

_ “Hers?” _

_ “Don’t act dumb, Lindsey. You know what I’m talking about.” _

_ “No, I really don’t.” _

_ “Ha. Okay. Let me explain it then if you don’t see it-” _

_ “Please do.” _

_ “I will. Sonnett. Emily fucking Sonnett.” _

_ “What about her?” She seethed. _

_ “You’re all over her. You’re all over all of them. Ellie, Caitlin, but Emily-” _

_ “Emily what?” _

_ “Would you let me fucking finish? You know, the fact that I can’t even get a fucking word in about her without you sounding like you want to knock my face to the ground tells me all I need to know. You wouldn't do that for me.” _

_ “Because you’re an asshole.” _

_ He scoffed. “Okay, Lindsey. That’s fine. I’m an asshole, sure. But that doesn’t change the fact that you care about her more than you care about me.” _

_ “She’s my best friend.” _

_ “Sure.” _

_ “If you can’t accept that, I don’t know what to tell you.” _

_ “I would accept it if I thought she really was just your best friend. I don’t think that’s it. I think she’s in love with you. I think you want something else that’s not me, Lindsey. You want someone else.” _

_ “How the fuck do you know what I want?” _

_ “Are you saying you want me?” _

_ She was silent. He let out a bitter laugh. _

_ “I think we’re done. Bye, Lindsey. I hope you figure it out for your sake.” _

It was weird to see Emily so serious considering how much of a goof she was, but over the years and everything they had been through together, Lindsey was growing more and more used to it every time. 

“Better than I thought I’d be.”

“Understandable. No offense but he was a jackass.”

Lindsey snorts a laugh. 

“Tell me about it.”

Emily raised an eyebrow and shot her a playful look that said, ‘Really? You want me to tell you about it?’

“Well, there was that time he forgot your birthday. The time he told your brother that he should drink some milk to help him grow. The time-”

Lindsey shook her head and said, “No, doofus. There’s no need to tell me. I know” She lifted one of her feet off of Emily’s lap and shoved her in the shoulder with it.

"EW. I _ hate _ that!”

“Shut up, you love my feet.”

“Hell no. I hate all feet. I may love you but your feet are no exception, sorry.”

Lindsey’s stomach flipped. She was sure Emily meant it platonically. She was sure she was just paranoid over being accused of liking Emily. 

“You wanna talk about it now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay,” Emily nodded. “Well I’m here if and when you’re ready.”

Lindsey nodded in thanks and they fell into silence again. 

Emily was scrolling through her phone when she let out a loud sarcastic laugh.

“Noooo fucking way.”

“What?” Lindsey sat up to look at Emily’s phone. 

“Look at what the asshole posted.”

It was a screenshot of his Instagram story. ‘Definition of a bad game: 5.1 and a red’ it read with an arrow pointing to Sonnett’s face. 

“What the fuck? Where did you find this?”

“Twitter,” Emily mumbled, suddenly feeling guilty for no reason.

Lindsey sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“What does he have against me? I didn’t do anything to him but say hi and try to be his friend for your sake.” 

Lindsey’s heart rate picked up. 

“He was jealous.”

“Jealous? What, of my looks? I know I’m better looking but I mean he got the girl.”

Lindsey laughed for a second before she realized what Emily had said. “What?”

Emily’s cheeks were pink. “Nothing.”

“No, Son. What did you say?”

“That he’s jealous of my looks.”

“After that.”

“That I’m better looking.”

“_Em_.”

“That he got the girl.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Linds, we don’t have to-”

“You’re right. He was jealous of you. Not for your looks. Well, at least I don’t think but I wouldn’t be surprised.” She blushed as soon as she realized that she was insinuating that Emily was better looking than him. She quickly followed with, “He was jealous because he said I paid more attention to you than him,” to cover her tracks.

“We live in the same city and play on two of the same teams. How are you _ not _ supposed to pay attention to me that way?”

“I called him possessive.”

“He was.”

“He said there was nothing to be possessive about if I was yours more than I was his.”

And,_ fuck _, Emily wasn’t expecting that.

They were silent. There was something in both of their eyes that they couldn’t quite read off each other.

Emily had no idea why Lindsey was telling her this and was big time regretting saying what she did.

Lindsey also had no idea why she was telling her this. It was just happening. But now she couldn’t tell what Emily’s reaction was to it and she wanted to run out of the apartment and back to her own. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Emily whispered and Lindsey felt the need to cradle her face in her hands and smooth away the crescents that formed between her eyebrows. She didn’t.

“I don’t really know.”

The silent air between them felt like it was difficult to inhale.

“Em,” she called softly. The blue-gray eyes that she found a home in over the last several years were confused and troubled. 

“He said you’re in love with me.”

“How the heck would he know? He only ever said hi to me twice in all the times I’d seen him.”

“_Em_,”

“Linds-”

“Em, was he right?”

Emily’s eyes watered and her chest tightened. She wasn't good with feelings. That’s why she hadn’t told Lindsey she loved her before she got with the asshole in the first place. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what? Em, there’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“I- for making it obvious, I guess. I didn’t mean to break you guys up.”

_ Of course that was her way of saying she loves me _. Lindsey thought. Her stomach churned.

“Em, no. It’s not your fault,” Lindsey shook her head as her own eyes watered.

“Linds, he didn't like our relationship and broke up with you because of it. It was my fault.”

“It takes two to tango.”

“What?”

“I had my part in it too. He came at me more than he came at you, actually. Said I’m all over you,” Her eyes flicked down to her lap and she played with the cuffs of Emily’s sweatshirt that she was wearing.

“Lindsey,” Emily sighed.

“I think he’s right,” Lindsey admitted and Emily stared at her as she chewed the inside of her cheek. “I- I didn’t realize it before. Or at least I didn’t think it was possible that it was more than just friendly nature. But I think he’s right.”

“You think he’s right that I love you?” Emily questioned.

“No. Well, yes? I don’t know. I mean that I think he’s right that I care about you more than I care about him. And that it’s probably not just friends. And that’s probably why I’m all over you.” Both of their cheeks flushed at the last two statements.

“Lindsey, what are you saying?”

“I don’t really know.”

Another few moments of silence lingered between them as they each tried to process what was happening and find the right words to say next. 

“Em, can you answer something for me?”

Emily nodded hesitantly, knowing whatever she was about to ask was probably going to require a very revealing response. 

“Was he right? Do you love me? Are you _ in _ love with me?” Her deep voice was gentle in tone but raspy in texture. It wasn’t accusatory. It was just genuinely _ so _ confused. It almost broke Emily’s heart on the spot. 

Lindsey had already asked the question just a few minutes earlier and already knew the answer, or at least was fairly certain she did, but she needed to hear it out loud. Emily knew that.

“Yeah,” she whispered back. “He was right,” her voice wavered on the last word and she had to swallow the lump in her throat that caused it down as best she could. 

“_Em_,” Lindsey called softly. When Emily’s watery eyes met her own, she said, “Tell me.”

“Lindsey, why are you doing this?” She had never heard Emily sound so pained. Never really heard her voice be much but energetic and jubilant.

“Emily, tell me you love me.” She never called her Emily. Always Sonny or Son or Dasani and sometimes Em.

“If you know why do I need to say it?”

“Emily, just fucking tell me. _ Please _. I need to hear you say it.”

Emily took a deep breath and tried to stop the tears of nervousness and frustration from spilling onto her cheeks. “I’m in love with you, Lindsey.”

Lindsey’s breath caught in her throat and she thought her heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was just beating so fast that that’s what it felt like. She wasn’t sure a heart could actually skip a beat, but if it could, hers just did.

“I think I love you too,” it came out quietly. Almost like she was afraid to say it. 

“Linds, I’m not asking for you to tell me back. Especially if you don’t know. I can deal with it. Get over it. Just don’t tell me and get my hopes up.” It was a lie. She had tried to get over it for years at this point. Nothing ever worked. 

If she was being honest, the reason why Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish was on more than one of her playlists was because of Lindsey. Those ocean eyes had her falling hard, still.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I just can’t bear to hear it if you aren’t sure.”

“I only said ‘I think’ because I’ve been avoiding it like the plague. I haven’t thought about it enough to be comfortable saying it.”

“Tried that. Didn’t work.”

“Yeah,” Lindsey whispers in agreement. “I’m starting to figure that out.”

Emily let out a breathy laugh through her nose. 

“Can I- can I kiss you?”

“What?” Emily’s head snapped to the girl. 

“I’m sorry. I just- never mind. Forget I asked.”

“Linds,” Emily sighed. “Listen. I’ve told you how I feel already. I just- I can’t let you tell me you think you love me or ask if you can kiss me if you don’t know you really want it. I can’t get a taste of you and not want the whole meal.”

Her face twisted in embarrassment as soon as she said it.

_ That’s what I get for trying to be poetic. _ She thought.

Lindsey couldn’t stop her Sonnett laugh from spewing out of her lips. 

“_Wow _,” Lindsey laughed, “That’s presumptuous of you, Dasani.”

“I hate that name.”

“Yeah, but you love me so it’s okay,” Lindsey tried to joke and suddenly the lightheartedness that had washed over them was gone as soon as fast as it had come.

“Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Don’t use the fact that I love you as a joke. Don’t use it against me.”

“Son, that's not what I was trying to do. I’m sorry...”

She didn’t get a response. 

“That was really insensitive of me. I didn’t think. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Lindsey sighed and threaded her fingers through her hair, tossing it over to the side. Emily loved when she did that. Loved the way the blonde strands framed her face and the tousled look made her eyes all the more gentle. 

“What do we do?” Lindsey spoke up. 

“I don’t know.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Guess so.” 

It was like they were trying to fill their silence with unnecessary words. They couldn’t bear to sit in suffocating silence for another moment longer because the dead air had never put them in a stranglehold as strong as this.

“Em, can we maybe try this? See what happens?” The last part is a cross between a mumble and a whisper, but Emily hears it loud and clear.

“Lindsey, if you’re not sure-”

“Help me be sure then,” she cuts her off, growing frustrated with the way Emily seems to be blockading the next step of their relationship (whatever that may be).

“I don’t want us to stop being friends.” Her voice sounds so small that Lindsey swears she might cry.

“_Em...” _

“Linds, I can get over it. Don’t do this because of me. Don’t-”

“_Emily_,” it’s a bit more forceful this time and it sure as hell shuts Emily up. “Please? Can we please try? I don’t want us to stop being friends either but I don’t think I can go on like this.”

“Go on like what?”

“Not being able to act on the fact that I like you.” It’s the first time she says it aloud and it pangs her hard in the chest as it spews out of her lips. It was the first time she admitted it, to herself as well, and it wasn’t forced. It came out like she had already come to terms with it. The realization scared the hell out of her and comforted her all the same.

“What was stopping you before?”

“I didn’t realize it before.” 

There’s yet another long moment of silence as Emily tries to make up her mind. She could say yes and potentially fuck things up between them or say no and never know what it’s like to be with her. 

Emily’s reticence is driving Lindsey insane. 

“Em, if you need time-”

“Okay.” 

“What?”

“I said okay.”

“Yeah, heard that.”

“Why’d you ask then?” There’s a smirk on Emily’s face that oddly assauges Lindsey’s anxiety in the moment.

“Wanted to make sure.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“You said that.”

“Shut up.”

They’re both grinning like the idiots they are and they cant help but giggle at their lunacy.

“Promise me if it doesn’t work we’ll still be best friends?” Emily questions softly when their giggles dissolve.

“Of course, Son. You’ll always be my best friend.”

Emily nods and whispers, “You too.”

“Can I hug you, please?” Lindsey’s sure it sounds needier than she intends, but quite literally the only thing she wants is to be close to Emily. 

The girl on the opposite end of the couch smiles softly and opens her arms up. “C’mere.”

Lindsey all but crawls across the cushions until her body is crashing down onto Emily’s because she loses her balance. 

“_Umph _,” Emily grunts when Lindsey’s elbow lands right in her side. Her face scrunches up in slight pain as a knee bends in contraction and her eyes squeeze shut.

Lindsey mutters an “Oh my god,” with wide blue eyes and is about to follow with, “I’m so sorry,” but Emily starts laughing before she can vocalize her apology. 

“Are you okay?” The worry in her voice makes Emily want to cradle her in her lap and kiss her face senseless because she’s so damn cute, but she doesn’t. She settles for grabbing Lindsey’s hand instead, not wanting to overwhelm the girl with the affection she’s coveted to show her for years. 

“I’m fine, Lindsey.” There’s such fondness in her eyes and Lindsey has to remind herself that she still hasn’t earned permission to kiss her yet. 

It’s only then that she realizes that she’s sitting on Emily’s lap and she has no idea how she ended up there. She blushes at the idea of just gravitating there because it felt so right. She makes a move to get off but Emily’s arms are around her waist before she can even lift an inch of her body up. 

“Thought you wanted a hug?” Emily says into her shoulder as she leans into her. Lindsey chuckles for a moment before she gently wraps her arms around Emily’s shoulders and settles her head in the small space left open at the base of the girl’s neck. 

“I did.” 

They stay there for a small while until Emily’s abdomen grows sore from holding herself upright and her legs start to tingle because she’s in a position that cuts off some blood flow into one area. She wants nothing more than to stay that way with Lindsey as long as she can, but she’s sure she won’t be able to last much longer without her body starting to give out on her. 

Lindsey is so comfortable being held by Emily, her eyes close and her body weight falls slightly heavier against Emily’s. The last thing she expects is for her body to be jolted and thrown onto the couch cushions beside them. She’s mid-jolt when her eyes fly open and her squeeze on Emily’s neck tightens in some seek of safety. 

The moment her back hits the cushions, she feels the pressure of a set of hands on her hipbones and is so distinctly aware of Emily’s position above her and the way her hold on Emily’s neck keeps them tauntingly close.

Emily’s soft smile reappears with a nervous chuckle when she becomes aware of their position too, but she makes no move to readjust. “Hi,” she whispers. Lindsey’s throat goes dry at the humid puffs of air that leave Emily’s lips and lands on hers. 

“Hi…” She whispers back. “Why’d you move? I was comfy.” The pout on her lips forces Emily’s eyes to snap down fast. Her gaze lingers a moment too long to be excused and when she sees that Lindsey’s lips are transforming into a stifled smirk, she looks back up to her eyes.

“I, uh, my body was getting tired of sitting like that.” 

Lindsey laughs right into her face and Emily thinks that moment may be the most sublime of her life. 

“You couldn’t just tell me that? You had to throw me onto the couch and land on top of me?” Having Lindsey this close to her with her eyes radiating something stronger than a sparkle and her lips spilling breath right into her mouth is almost too intoxicating for her. She almost moves away, her hands growing tired of holding her up and her mind not coherent enough to withstand the proximity, but she feels Lindsey’s strong hold on her neck and thinks she may very well be trapped. 

She decides to shift them slightly, turning Lindsey’s hips with her hands and falling into the space between the backrest of the couch and Lindsey’s body. The girl’s arms don’t move from her neck and somehow her own have circled Lindsey’s waist again. 

Neither of them says anything after the change of position and they’re so enthralled in each other’s eyes and studying the freckles that embellish their faces from long days in the sun, they don’t speak. 

This silence is the kind they prefer. The one that’s void of anguish and filled with solace. It’s still a little daunting, but what silence isn’t?

It isn’t until Emily says, “Idea,” that it’s broken.

“Shoot,” Lindsey responds.

“_Woah _, Linds. I just got a chance with you. Why would I shoot you?” Emily’s eyebrows raise in feigned shock and she has that stupid grin on her face like she always does when she thinks she’s being funny.

“Oh my god, you’re an idiot,” Lindsey whispers in exasperation as she loosens her hold on Emily and tries to scoot back. The attempt is feeble and the arms around her waist keep her put.

Emily laughs at the reaction but continues on. “You’re gonna go home right now,” Lindsey looks up with a pout and Emily can’t help but chuckle. “Calm down, baby, I’m not getting rid of you... entirely.” Emily has called her baby before (once on a Facebook livestream for her cheeks to redden in front of however many people were watching) but she always thought she was joking. This was different. It was nice. “You’re gonna go home and put on something nicer than my hoodie, as much as I love you in it,” _ swoon _, “and I’m gonna pick you up in like an hour and take you on a date and do my best to make you fall in love with me tonight. And if it doesn’t work out, we can forget it all happened in the morning.” 

“Make me fall in love with you in one night? You sound confident, Son,” Lindsey teases but she’s almost certain that the confidence is warranted.

“Yeah, well, I can only try,” she shrugs.

Lindsey laughs, though it wasn't funny. “Okay. I’m gonna go home and get ready then. Give me like an hour and a half, though.”

“What? I need all the time I can get! Why do you need so much time to get ready?”

Lindsey chuckles at the protests gushing out of Emily’s mouth. 

“Because I wanna look nice for you, is that so bad?” She leans forward and stops right in front of Emily’s cheek. “See you in an hour and a half,” she places a kiss on the skin that turned red from her hot breath, “Can’t wait.” 


	2. I want you riding shotgun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily does what she can to follow through with her plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yoooooo this took foreverrrrrr I'm so sorry. my dumbass really thought I could write three ongoing stories at once on top of my schoolwork. I played myself. anyway, here's this and I'm so so so sorry for the wait. took me a fucking month.
> 
> as always, enjoy and feel free to leave me comments or asks on my Tumblr @ chrvstenpress.tumblr.com !  
thanks for reading!

**the gr8: ** _ wait _

**the gr8:** _how much nicer than a hoodie are we talking?_

**the gr8:** _I don’t wanna like overdress and look like a fool._

Emily laughs at her phone as she runs around her apartment trying to pack everything they would need. 

**dasonny:** _nothing crazy fancy, linds. we’re not like that lmao_

**dasonny:** _just something casual and comfortable but not athleisure. _

**the gr8:** _wtf is that supposed to mean? we don’t own anything that’s not either a dress or sweats._

**dasonny:** _sure we do. if I found something, you HAVE to have something. why are you so worried?_

**the gr8:** _ I told you… I wanna look good for you:( _

She’s surprised that Lindsey is being so forward and doesn’t really know what the proper way to respond to the boldness is. 

She decides to roll with it, telling herself that they always flirt and it’s nothing new. _ And _ she’s trying to make the girl fall in love with her.

**dasonny:** _ I’ll love you in whatever you wear, linds. Just pick. _

Perhaps it’s a little too forward, but it’s too late. 

**the gr8:** _<3_

Emily packs the last of the things in her tote bags before she rushes back to her bedroom to change and quickly do her hair. She decides on a white t-shirt and light-wash ripped jeans with a long beige cardigan to keep her warm. Once she’s finished straightening her hair, she contemplates applying makeup, but she decides on only a little bit of it because she’s always been more comfortable without it but still wants to look good for Lindsey in return.

**dasonny:** _are you ready yet:(((_

**the gr8:** _no_

**dasonny:** _but I miss you already_

**the gr8:** _that’s cute_

**dasonny:** _liiiinds:((((_

**dasonny:** _it’s been like three hourssss_

**the gr8:** _ it’s been 45 minutes. I’ll be ready in twenty. _

Emily smiled lightly at the fact that she wasn’t taking the full hour thirty to get ready. She decided to keep whining anyway.

**dasonny:** _ UGH _

**the gr8:** _shush_

**the gr8:** _thank you. _

Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusement at the odd text that came through.

**dasonny:** _?_

**the gr8:** _for giving us a chance._

_ Oh. _

She wants to type out a long paragraph telling Lindsey that she should be thanking her because it’s all she’s wanted for years. She wants to tell Lindsey that she’s imagined this moment in the times that she gets caught up staring at her in awe as she laughs with their fools of teammates and best friends. Or in the times that her head is in her lap and her quiet snores are barely heard over the volume of the tv. Or in the times that she puts the armrest up and leans her head on her shoulder on flights, no matter how long or short. Or in the times where she gets caught stealing her hoodies.

She wants to tell her she loves her again and that this was every bit of a mere dream turned reality and she has no idea what to do with herself.

She doesn’t.

**dasonny:** _don’t thank me. go get ready so I can take the chance_.

Emily is practically shaking with nerves before she leaves her apartment to pick Lindsey up. Suddenly she has no idea if she’s allowed to hold her hand. Kiss her cheek. Flirt. (Even though they do those things all the time anyway, they have a new meaning now. A new purpose.)

She has to tell herself to calm down. That it’s just Lindsey. 

But Lindsey was never _ just _ Lindsey. She didn’t deserve a ‘just’. She was worth so much more than a ‘just’.

Lindsey was _ everything _ to her. That’s why she couldn’t fuck this up. It was why she was so nervous. 

When she shows up at Lindsey’s apartment, she’s just over 5 minutes early. She contemplates just waiting it out, but she can’t sit still and her feet drag her to Lindsey’s doorstep before her mind can decide. 

“It’s only been 15 minutes,” is the first thing Lindsey says when she opens her door. There’s an amused grin on her lips and it makes Emily feel powerless. 

“Sorry. I can, uh, go back to the car and come back when you’re ready.” She turns to go back to her car but Lindsey’s hand catches her wrist before she can even take a step. 

Lindsey’s laughing and tugging her back around and Emily feels so weak she thinks her body might melt into a puddle right then and there. “Son, I’m messing with you. You know you can come in.”

It’s only then that Emily notice the sight in front of her. Lindsey’s wearing those camouflage pants they both love so much because they shape her so well (Linsdey doesn’t know Emily feels that way about them, though) and a blank tank top with a chain around her neck. Her hair is in loose curls and Emily knows that she genuinely wanted to look good because she hardly ever curls her hair. She has a little bit extra mascara on and the scent of her special perfume is potent. Emily loves it all. She’s so overwhelmed with the way she looks and yet the first thing that comes out of her mouth is-

“You’re gonna get cold.”

The hopeful look on Lindsey’s face turns into confusion slowly but she quips back, “I’ll just steal your sweater then,” and tries to offer a joking smile anyway.

But then Emily retorts, “Then I’ll be cold,” and Lindsey’s eyebrows furrow harder. _ Fuck_, she’s so bad with feelings.

“_Okay_, then we can hug to warm each other up. Or I can just take my own jacket. Em, are you okay?” She takes a small step forward and Emily visibly tenses because Lindsey’s hand still hasn’t let go of her and now she’s in her space. Her head shoots down and her mouth is slightly parted and she so badly wishes she could just be better. Be better for Lindsey.

“Yeah, no. I’m sorry. I- I just- you look great. I’m sorry.” 

Lindsey, like always, reads her perfectly. “Hey,” she tugs Emily’s arm a little to get her attention, “It’s okay.” Her smile is so tender and understanding.

“Sorry. Guess I’m just kind of nervous.” She looks up with a timid smile. “You, uh, you ready? If not I can really wait-”

Lindsey’s amused smile is back and she’s tugging Emily into a loose hug. “Babe, it’s fine. Is that okay? If I call you that? If it makes you uncomfortable I won’t-” 

“I like it,” Emily nods softly and she puts her arms around Lindsey’s back gently as she tries to power through the staggering beating of her heart.. “I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me. And give whatever you’re willing to take, too. So just, uh, let me know what’s cool and what’s not, I guess.”

“I asked to kiss you earlier. I’m _ cool _ with _ whatever... babe _.” She emphasizes the last part to make it obvious that it’s lighthearted and there’s nothing to worry about. “And you called me ‘baby’ earlier and I liked it,” Lindsey whispers as she leans in to press a soft kiss to Emily’s cheek just like she did earlier. 

“Give me the five minutes you owe me, yeah? Promise I’ll be quick.” Lindsey’s tugging her to the couch and disappearing to her room before Emily can even fully process the moment. 

When she comes back, she’ stuffing a jacket into a small stylish backpack..

“Okay, I’m ready.”

“Oh, you didn’t really have to get a jacket. I was just being weird. You can wear whatever you want.” She’s rambling.

“Are you telling me not to take it?” Lindsey’s eyebrows furrow yet again and she takes the jacket out of the bag and lifts it in confusion.

“No! Well, uhm, it’s up to you,” she shrugs. “Sorry. I’m being weird again.”

Lindsey’s face softens and she walks over to the couch that Emily’s sunken into, plopping herself down sideways to face the girl, knee touching her thigh.

“Em, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I’m sorry I pressured you-”

“No! No, I want this. God, Lindsey you don’t even know how badly or how long I’ve wanted this.”

“How long?”

_ Oh fuck. _

“Uhm, a long time.”

“Em,” she grins, “how long?”

“A few years?”

She hears Lindsey let out a sigh through her nose and can’t bring herself to look at her. 

“I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid for so long,” Lindsey says quietly.

“Because you didn’t realize I liked you?”

“No,” Lindsey shakes her head, “because I didn’t realize _ I _ liked you back.”

Emily has to physically press her feet into the ground to stop herself from moving in to kiss Lindsey. She gives her a shy smile and takes her by the hand. “Ready? I’m losing my time here.”

“Yeah,” Lindsey smiles back, “I don’t think you need to worry about time, though.”

Emily doesn’t understand the meaning behind the words until they’re in the car. Her cheeks go red and palms go sweaty. When Lindsey tries to hold her hand after a few minutes in the car, she accidentally pulls away and rubs her palm on her thigh.

She can tell Lindsey is about to question her and she quickly says, “Sorry, just uh, hands are sweaty. You don’t wanna hold those.” She scrunches up her nose in playful disgust and Lindsey laughs. 

“I don’t mind,” Lindsey responds with a smile as she reaches over to take Emily’s hand again.

Emily doesn’t pull away but she does whine, “_Linds_,” because her hands are still clammy and it’s embarrassing her. 

“Shut up and drive. I said I don’t mind.”

Emily can’t help herself when she starts dancing and singing, “Shut up and drive, drive, drive, drive.” It gets Lindsey laughing all over again and it feels so normal. 

“There she is!” Lindsey smiles at her and squeezes her hand.

It eases Emily’s nerves for the moment and she tells herself to just be normal. If she’s gonna make Lindsey fall in love with her, she has to be herself.

“So, what are we doing?” Lindsey asks quickly because she knows Emily is having a hard time and doesn’t want to make it any worse. She wants to help her however she can. So she changes the subject.

“Eating,” Emily grins.

“Eating,” Lindsey repeats slowly. “Okay. Where are we going?”

“Can’t tell you.”

“Trying to kill me?”

“Can’t tell you.”

Lindsey snorts and shakes her head because, gosh, is Emily an idiot.

“Can I have a hint?”

“As to how I’m gonna kill you?”

“No, you dumbass,” She sounds annoyed but there’s a grin on her lips that gives her away. “Where we’re going.”

Emily winks as her and gives her hand a small squeeze before she says, “Nope. Can’t tell you.”

Now Lindsey’s a mess. It feels like they’ve done this a million times (maybe because they have) but now she _ knows_. 

She lets it go and then Emily is turning the music up and passing Lindsey her phone. It means they have to let go of each other’s hands but Emily’s finds her thigh as soon as it’s unoccupied again.

“Here, put something on.” Lindsey is sort of stunned by Emily’s sudden nonchalant energy (and the hand on her thigh that has never rested there so purposefully) that it takes her a moment to grab the phone off her lap.

“Uh, what playlist do you want?”

“You’re gonna listen to one of my playlists?” Emily’s face is so soft and almost surprised, it makes Lindsey giggle. 

“Son, you know I don’t listen to anything else. That was literally just proven earlier.”

Emily blushes slightly and tries to cover it up by saying, “Close your eyes and scroll back and forth a few times and then tap the phone to pick one and just press shuffle.”

Lindsey does as told and she ends up on SLUSHIES. When she presses shuffle, the first song that comes on is Superlove by Whethan and Oh Wonder.

“Oh! I like this one!” Lindsey says excitedly and all Emily can reply is a soft, “Yeah. Me too.”

It isn’t until the lyrics start that Lindsey hears the song in a new perspective. 

_ I’ve been looking at your face _ _   
_ _ It’s dangerous _ _   
_ _ Making me so goddamn crazy _ _   
_ _ But I’ve been dreaming of the taste _ _   
_ _ It’s chemical _   
Making me so goddamn crazy

Emily’s hand on her thigh is drumming the beat with a single finger and she’s not singing or dancing. She’s only whistling. That’s Lindsey’s first clue that something’s up. The second is that she refuses to look at Lindsey, even when the girl sings, “_I might be the danger that you never had._”

“Sing with me. You’re too quiet,” Lindsey urges.

Emily finally looks over at her and Lindsey doesn’t think she’s ever seen the girl’s cheeks so pink, even during practice on the hottest of days.

They pull up to a red light when Emily finally quietly sings, “_I can go slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow. Zero to let’s go, go, go, go, go, go._” She picks up her volume slightly on the next verse, getting more comfortable thanks to the fact that Lindsey is singing and dancing in the seat next to her.

She looks right at her when she sings “_But my love for you is superlove, superlove,_” and Lindsey has to stop herself from leaning over to kiss her hard. _ Not yet, _ she tells herself. She smiles wide and rests a hand on Emily’s instead.

And just because Emily is so in the moment, she turns her hand over to grab Lindsey’s and brings it up to her lips to kiss before singing the line once more. She settles their hands on her own lap this time and starts dancing again because she’s just so damn happy, nerves be damned. 

Emily starts pulling into a more foresty type of area and Lindsey jokingly gasps, “Oh my god, you really _are_ gonna kill me.”

Emily lets out a loud laugh and says, “Yeah, I decided I wanna be a middy now and I want your spot _ specifically_.”

“_ Please, _your obsession with Becky is too strong to ever not want to be a defender just so you can be like her.”

Emily nods and scrunches her nose up as she says, “Yeah, you’re right. Guess I won’t kill you then.”

Lindsey shakes her head and mutters, “Better not.” 

“‘Never in my wildest dreams, Linds. I like you too much.” 

And if Lindsey’s a blushing mess, she plays it off with an eye roll and looks out the window.

“Ooooh-kay. We’re here.” Emily moves to pull the handle on her door but then Lindsey’s saying, “Um, Em. We’re in the middle of a bunch of trees.”

“Yeah? I couldn’t tell.”

It earns her a pointed look from the girl in the passenger seat and she can’t help but chuckle and get out of the car anyway. Before Lindsey knows it, her own door is being opened for her and Emily’s hand is stuck out to help her up. 

“What are we doing?” 

Emily starts laughing at her mildly concerned state and pulls her in by the waist, “I promise I’m not gonna kill you.” She places a light kiss on what is meant to be her cheek, but ends up as Lindsey’s jaw because she’s slightly taller than Emily and she always forgets that. “Just trust me, yeah?” 

There’s really no reason for Emily to keep where they’re going a secret. Lindsey would find out in just a few minutes anyway. But Emily still wants to tease her a little bit. Wants to make Lindsey put her faith in her and just go with it. 

She sees Lindsey nod before the girl is saying, “Yeah, okay,” with a shy smile. 

Emily lets go of her hand for a moment so she can take their bags out of the trunk, but the moment she’s back at Lindsey’s side, their hands find each other again.

“Are we gonna have a picnic?”

Emily laughs. “You ever heard of this thing called ‘patience’? It means you wait for something without getting antsy about it.” 

Lindsey blushes and looks down to the floor. “Sorry,” she whispers.

“Yes, we are going to have a picnic. You’ll see in just a moment.”

Emily leads them to a more open area after having walked through nothing but trees for a few minutes and the first thing Lindsey sees is the Hawthorne Bridge they had just finished driving over. The second thing Lindsey notices is just how quiet it is. 

“Woah,” she whispers. She turns her head when she hears Emily giggle and she’s met with a look of adoration she’s never seen on Emily’s face before.

In all of Emily’s years of knowing Lindsey, this may be her favorite moment with her. Her favorite girl in her favorite spot in one of her favorite cities.

Lindsey swears that she had been everywhere in the city of Portland by now. She thought that she knew just about every hidden spot. But then again, Emily was always the one showing her them. 

“Em, this is insane.” 

“Yeah, I found it while out on a run one day. It’s kind of my secret spot.”

_ And she brought me here? _Lindsey thinks.

When Lindsey turns around after a few moments of admiring the view, Emily is setting out a blanket for them to rest on. She takes the ends of the corners, making sure the fabric is smooth on the ground because she knows just how bad Emily’s OCD is when it comes to small things like wrinkles in blankets. She smiles when Emily mumbles her thanks and ducks her head shyly. 

“Okay, I didn’t really have time to cook anything fresh so these are leftovers, _ but _ they’re only from last night and I promise they’ll be good,” Emily rambles as she pulls a few containers out of the bags. “I would have taken you to a restaurant but I figured privacy was a little better.”

“It’s perfect, Son.” Lindsey’s smile is delicate as she takes a seat next to Emily on the blanket, bending over to kiss her cheek ever so gently again. “Thank you. Seriously.”

Emily can’t do anything but return the smile as she passes Lindsey a container of food. 

“Oh my god, this is so good!” 

“You’ve had my food before, Linds,” Emily points out with a smirk.

“Hardly ever. You always say you’re too tired or we should go out to eat or order in or something.”

“That’s because cooking makes me even more tired. I don’t like cooking all the time.” 

“Not even for me?” Lindsey pouts.

Emily blushes and moves her food around with her fork, failing to both eat it and answer the question. 

“Why do you keep doing that?” 

Emily looks up with furrowed brows. “Huh? Doing what?” She feels like she’s done something wrong and she has no idea what it even is. 

“Getting all shy and nervous. It’s just me, Em. You’re perfectly fine around me all the time.”

_ But I’m not. _

“Oh, sorry...”

“No,” Lindsey shakes her head. “Don’t do that. Talk to me. What’s up?”

Emily’s breath quivers as she inhales deeply. “I just really don’t want to fuck this up.” 

“Em, you’re not going to fuck this up.”

When she doesn’t get a response, she moves their food aside and sits right next to the girl so their thighs are touching and she can hold Emily’s hands in her own. 

“Talk to me. I don’t want it to be so hot and cold like this,” Lindsey tries again.

“You only want hot?” Emily smirks, earning a hard shove from Lindsey and a muttered “idiot.”

“I, uh. I don’t know,” she says after a moment. “I know I kinda mentioned this earlier but I’ve liked you for a really long time now,” she sighs deeply before continuing, “and I kinda didn’t process what was happening earlier until you were gone and I was by myself trying to figure out how exactly I was going to do this right. And I’m not openly emotional so I’ve been freaking out about how to tell you just how much you mean to me. And just how much I want this. And just how much I’ll be okay if you decide this isn’t what _ you _ want. How I’ll be whatever you need me to be. I’m okay with it. 

“And, god, Linds, you’re just so beautiful and you make me so nervous. I know I probably didn’t seem like I was showing it before, but you had me anxious all the time. I even tried _ breathing exercises _ because I was so nervous I would do something stupid around you and give myself away. But then you were so receptive to everything I was giving you and you were giving it to me too. And then you got a boyfriend and _ man _, did I wish I could be him. But I selfishly took what you gave me anyway while I tried to tell myself it was time to get over it.”

Emily is silent for a moment, but Lindsey knows she’s not done. She hears Emily take a really deep breath and sees her shut her eyes for a second. 

“And then he’s out of the picture and suddenly you’re on my couch telling me that it’s over because of _ me _ . That it’s over because there might be something with _ me _ that you should have had with _ him_. I feel so fucking guilty, Linds,” she laughs bitterly, “I feel like I already fucked it up for you with him and I’m just gonna fuck this up for the both of us too.”

“Em, no,” Lindsey soothes gently, putting her chin on Emily shoulder and wrapping an arm around her waist. “You know what?” She asks gently, her jaw bouncing on Emily’s shoulder as she speaks. 

Emily only gives a muted hum in response.

“You did a pretty good job at being open with me just then.” 

Emily turns her head slightly to be met with Lindsey grinning at her affectionately. Her eyes are so loving, Emily finds herself falling deeper in that moment than she ever thought she could. 

“I kinda just spilled my guts, huh?” Emily makes fun of herself, causing both of them to giggle at how emotional she was just then.

“It’s probably because you kept it all in there,” Lindsey pokes a finger at Emily’s chest, “and didn’t tell me so you just popped right now.”

“Linds… What was I _ supposed _ to do?” Emily turns serious again despite Lindsey’s teasing.

“Tell me.” Lindsey says it like it’s easy.

“I couldn’t do that.” Emily shakes her head, looking away from the girl again.

“Why not?” Lindsey whispers. 

“I just- I couldn’t. You didn’t even consider liking me until today. If I had said something then, I could’ve freaked you out and scared you away or something.”

“It wasn’t only until today.” Lindsey squeezes Emily’s hand, getting the girl to look at her again. “If I’m being honest, you always made me a little nervous too. I never really knew why. I’d be lying if I said the reason why I was all over you wasn’t because I liked being close to you all the time. I _ needed _ to be close to you all the time. And then _ he _ pointed it out and I had to actually pretend like I didn’t know what he was talking about. He called me out on that too. But not only until today, Em. I’ve considered it before, probably subconsciously, but I’ve actually been allowing myself to consider it and want it since probably even before he ended it.” 

If Emily’s ever been left speechless, it doesn’t compare to the way she’s left right now.

“So, no,” Lindsey continues, “You’re not going to fuck this up because I know you. And I’ve liked you probably just as long as you’ve liked me because I _ know _ you, Em. You don’t need to try to impress me or worry about anything today. Just be yourself with me because that’s the Emily Ann Sonnett I like, mkay?”

Yup. Emily’s in love. _ Deep _ in love.

///

“I’m gonna get Miss Kelley at next camp. That’s if her shit ankles don’t stop her from actually going.” 

“Leave her alone,” Lindsey chides. She’s laying down in front of Emily now, her head in the girl’s lap and her hair being played with. “You know she’s secretly taking it really hard that she can’t play… again.”

“Exactly! I’ll cheer her up!” 

“By putting ice in her toilet so she can’t use it and kool-aid in the toilet tank so when the ice melts and she _ can _ use it, it turns red when she flushes? I think that might just piss her off more, Son,” Lindsey chuckles.

“Ugh,” she groans, “You’re no fun.”

Lindsey tilts her head back to look up at Emily, a childish grin on her face. Her eyes seem bluer than they were earlier, the overcast natural lighting making them glow just right. 

“How is it that you’re still so pretty even when you’re upside down?” Emily blurts. 

She sees Lindsey’s cheeks blush a bit and her smile grow wider, somehow accentuating her dimples even more. She pokes into the deeper dimple just for the fun of it, earning a hardcore giggle from the girl resting in her lap. 

Lindsey buries her face into one of Emily’s legs to hide her blush and her dimples at the touch. Emily doesn’t seem to mind, threading her fingers into Lindsey’s hair again softly, smiling down at the beauty below her. 

It was safe to say that she wasn’t so nervous anymore. After their mini-confession session, Emily had allowed herself to just let go with Lindsey, no reservations.

“Wanna go somewhere else?” Emily asks after a moment of quietness.

Lindsey shakes her head no into Emily’s leg with her eyes closed.

“You’re gonna fall asleep on me and waste my very valuable time here, Linds,” she jokes, eliciting a grin from the girl on her lap, but still no open eyes.

She bends down awkwardly, trying to meet Lindsey’s forehead with her lips as best she can. Lindsey decides then to open her eyes and turn her face, feeling Emily shift under her. Consequently, she smacks Emily’s face with her own, making them both groan through laughs. Lindsey reaches a hand up to cup the side of Emily’s face she didn’t hit, still howling with laughter. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t know your face was right there.”

Emily finally upside down kisses Lindsey’s forehead before sitting back up completely. “I think you’re trying to kill _ me _ now.” She fakes a frown and rubs at the side of her head, earning more giggles from Lindsey. 

“Never,” Lindsey shakes her head, reaching her hands out for Emily’s face above her. Emily leans down into Lindsey’s hands, letting the girl pull her down again. “I like you too much,” Lindsey mumbles before kissing the temple on Emily’s head that she hit.

“That’s my line,” Emily whines as she sits back up. Lindsey just hums and closes her eyes again.

“If you’re tired, we can go hom-” 

“I’m just resting my eyes.”

“I’m pretty sure that means sleeping,” Emily laughs.

“No, it means resting my eyes.”

“Linds-”

“Stop playing with my hair then,” Lindsey groans as she sits up. “It always puts me to sleep.” She’s making some kind of puppy face that Emily can’t handle.

“C’mere.” Emily opens her legs up from the way they were criss-crossed and opens out her arms. Lindsey finds her spot right away, scooting back right into the space between Emily’s legs and resting her head on Emily’s chest with a content hum and grin.

Emily wastes no time in wrapping her arms around Lindsey and holding her close. “Don’t fall asleep on me,” she whispers directly into Lindsey’s ear.

“Stop making me so comfortable then.” 

She unwraps her arms from Lindsey’s body and starts to lean back before Lindsey is making little whining sounds and flailing her arms back in search of Emily’s.

“You’re so annoying,” Emily laughs as Lindsey tries to snuggle further into her body and she concedes to wrapping her arms back around the girl again.

She snickers to herself at how much of a big teddy bear Lindsey actually is. She may be a bulldozer on the pitch, but the girl is actually a big softy who makes baby talk at puppies she sees on the street and constantly just wants to hug someone. 

“What are you laughing at?” Lindsey asks teasingly.

“_You_.”

Lindsey’s head snaps up to look at Emily with a frown on her face. “Me?” 

Emily wants to keep playing along, but the little pout that takes over Lindsey’s lips makes her melt before she can. It’s like she loses all her willpower when Lindsey gets all soft like that.

“Why are you laughing at me?” She’s still pouting.

“‘Cause you’re _ dumb _.” Emily smirks as she looks down at Lindsey.

“_You’re _ dumb!” Lindsey frowns harder even though she knows Emily is just playing. 

“You’re the dumbest.” 

“You’re mean.” Lindsey slumps further into Emily, huffing and frowning as she turns back around.

Emily smirks and leans in immediately, placing her lips onto Lindsey’s cheek lightly. “M’sorry,” she whispers before kissing her cheek softly. 

When she doesn’t get a response, she knows Lindsey is playing hard to get.

_ Two can play that game. _

“Linds,” she whispers again, still not getting a response. 

“Lindsey… baby,” she tries again, smirking against Lindsey’s ear as she says it and feels the girl squirm slightly. 

“You said you like it when I call you baby, didn’t you?” She slowly kisses just below Lindsey’s ear once. 

Emily thinks Lindsey must be really set on winning whatever little game they’re playing at the moment, because she’s still silent. 

She decides it’s time to try one last thing. “Hey...” _ still nothing _, “I love you.” 

She feels Lindsey actually shudder in her arms, moving around slightly as if in attempts to hide it. “I hate you.” 

“She speaks!” 

“You’re a fool.” 

“Oh my god, I thought someone stole your voice!”

“An absolute _ idiot_.” 

Emily laughs and pulls Lindsey in closer to her. “I’m sorry. I was just playing. Will you forgive me?” she asks before kissing her a few times on the cheek for good measure.

She knows it worked when she hears Lindsey hum again and feels her body grow a little heavier against her front.

They stay like that until the sun starts to set and Emily forces them to get up before it’s too dark to walk through the trees and back to the car safely. 

Lindsey tried to protest, saying something along the lines of _ “S’fine. We have flashlights on our phones. Don’t wanna get up.” _

“Mkay, where to now?” Emily asks as she closes her door and starts the car. 

“There’s more?” 

“There’s still…” she stops to look at the clock on her dashboard, “about 6 hours left in the day and I plan on using as much of it as I can, if not all of it. So yeah, there’s more.” 

Lindsey smiles at the way Emily is really trying to stick to her “make you fall in love with me by the end of the night” plan. 

“Oh, I know! Are you down for like a, I don’t know, thirty minute drive?” Emily asks as she puts the car in reverse, not really waiting for Lindsey to answer. 

“I’m up for anything, Son,” Lindsey giggles at Emily’s rush of excitement.

“Okay. You’ll see when we get there but this place is sort of far away enough out of the city for it not to be so packed right now...I hope. And it’ll hopefully wake you up,” she stops to throw a smirk at Lindsey who rolls her eyes and buries herself into her seat. “Emma came to visit one weekend and we went to Cannon Beach and stopped at this place on the way back. But in the meantime, you can sleep on the way if you want.”

“Nuh uh. M’not sleepy. Just comfy,” she grins lazily at Emily from the passenger’s seat. “And you said you wanna use all the time you can get. I can’t waste it by sleeping.”

Emily can’t do anything but laugh to herself when Lindsey falls asleep in the passenger’s seat not even ten minutes later, all while holding her hand.

///

It took four attempts of waking Lindsey up when they arrived for Emily to be successful. Added, she was only successful because she had to use soft pecks of kisses all over Lindsey’s face and sweet names to pull her out of her slumber (a few pats on the leg proved not to be enough).

“What are we doing?” Lindsey asks groggily as Emily drags her toward a random building by the hand. 

“Depends. Do you want to play arcade games, bowl, play laser tag, rock climb-”

“Okay, _ what_?” Lindsey laughs. “They have all of that in there?” 

“Yup. So take your pick. We can do more than one and they don’t close til pretty late so there’s no rush either.”

Lindsey stops them just before they walk into the building, halting in place and effectively making Emily turn around when her hand tugs. She cuts Emily off before she can ask what’s wrong with a lingering kiss just outside the corner of her mouth.

She pulls away slowly, leaving Emily near speechless. 

“That’s so unfair.”

Lindsey bursts out in laughter. “What?”

“You can’t do that and expect me to not want to kiss you right now.” 

“I’m not stopping you, Em.” She whispers it. Brings her free hand up to to hook a couple fingers with Emily’s lightly. Looks down at the ground coyly.

Emily actually considers it. She’s had to stop herself too many times to count in the few hours they’d spent together so far.. She’s not even sure why she stopped herself.. But she considers it. She considers it until she realizes where they are and she says, “No.” 

Lindsey’s eyes snap up to hers and small creases appear between her eyebrows and on her forehead. 

“Not here.” She’s too special to kiss like this. “Not outside of an arcade type of place in the dark.” She laughs at the situation abashedly, suddenly feeling silly for bringing Lindsey to a place like this.

As if Lindsey can read her mind, she tugs on her fingers a little and says, “I like arcades. It’s fun acting like a kid from time to time.”

Emily grins at her gratefully before she leans in, tilting her head up and having to go on her tippy toes a bit to reach Lindsey’s cheek. “Maybe later?” 

Lindsey chuckles at the way Emily asks the question. She was so used to Emily boldly flirting like it was a joke (it wasn’t) and now, she’s so endearingly bashful. Like it’s real. 

“Later,” she whispers, like she’s making a promise. 

They decide on laser tag first. Emily insists they play on different teams because, “What’s the fun without a little competition?”

Lindsey’s team wins. Emily makes excuses for her loss. 

_ “You cheated! You can’t sneak up on me and kiss my cheek and then shoot my target!” _

Lindsey kisses her cheek again to make up for it. 

Bowling comes next and Emily is set on beating Lindsey this time around. 

_ “Son, not everything is a competition,” Lindsey tried to assure her through a chuckle. _

_ “Linds, we are literally always on the same team. Let’s have a little fun and try to beat each other tonight.” _

_ “Oh, and you don’t like being on my team?” She asked it with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. She knew full well that Emily loved playing for both club and country alongside her. The girl said the words herself every time they shared rides to the airport together. Emily would make a joke of it, saying something about being thankful for not having to pay for an Uber by herself, but Lindsey knew it was because they didn’t have to spend much time apart (and Emily would almost always fully pay for their ride on her own). _

_“Of course I do...” Emily said charmingly before pausing, “but this isn’t soccer.”_

_Lindsey couldn’t do anything but roll her eyes, laugh, and watch Emily roll a spare on her first turn._

Somehow, they sneak into the kids’ jungle gym without getting caught. They throw balls from the ball pit at each other, tackle each other into the netted walls, and chase one another through the maze sections, laughing like they enjoyed it more than actual children would.

They decide to play a few arcade games before heading back, both growing tired and not wanting to drive too late in the night.

Emily finally settles for not making a competition out of everything.

She cheers Lindsey on as she plays the classic free-throw basketball game. Lindsey rests her chin on Emily’s shoulder as she tries to win something out of the claw machine, occasionally letting out excited ‘oh, almost!’s.

When they do decide to head home, it’s already 11 o’clock and Lindsey forces herself to stay awake with Emily on the drive back. Emily was actually okay, not feeling sleepy, but she wouldn’t reject more time with her favorite girl. 

They sing loudly and dance in their seats to another one of Emily’s playlists to keep Lindey awake before they make it back around 11:30. They sit in the car for a few minutes, both understanding that they day is coming to an end and staring at each other affectionately from their own seats. 

Emily holds Linsdsey close on the elevator ride back up to her apartment, not quite sure if she’s going to stay or go home because Lindsey hasn’t explicitly said anything that solidifies anything about where they go next.

All her doubts are dispelled as soon as Lindsey tugs her through her apartment door, though. Emily planned on staying at the doorway for the sake of not inviting herself in and making things awkward, but Lindsey’s plans were the opposite. 

She all but dragged Emily into the apartment with one hand, tugged her in front of her own body, shut the door with her back, pulled Emily into her, cradled one of her cheeks with an unoccupied hand, and kissed her before even saying anything. 

To say Emily was stunned would be the largest understatement either of them had ever heard. She took a solid few moments before she realized what was happening and kissed back. Linsdey even nearly pulled away at the feeling of unmoving lips against hers, but Emily caught on just in time. 

It was a little frantic at first, mostly because Emily was so in a rush to kiss back and not let go, before they slowed down, appreciating each other in the awaited intimacy. Lindsey’s hand stayed fixed on Emily’s cheek, rubbing her thumb along the underside of the girl’s cheekbone every now and again. Emily’s hands found their way to Lindsey’s hips, pressing her slightly further into the door as she chased Lindsey’s lips in between small breaths. 

At some point, they both simultaneously realized that they were _ actually, finally _ kissing and couldn’t even capture each other’s lips right in fault of their smiles. They ended up in a mess of giggles and misplaced pecks because of it. 

When they finally stopped, their eyes met and Emily let out something between a sigh and a chuckle right against Lindsey’s lips. Lindsey couldn’t help but kiss her quick again because of it, just because she felt like she could. 

Somehow, Lindsey managed to muster up the courage to break their moment and push against Emily’s body with her own, moving them away from the door and to the couch. 

She sat on the end of it, her back resting against the arm of the couch and her legs arching over Emily’s lap from her place next to Lindsey. 

Emily settled one arm on Lindsey’s stomach, lacing their fingers together lazily, and the other on one of her knees, resting her head sideways against the couch cushion behind her and looking over at Lindsey fondly.

“I can’t believe you kissed me first. No fair.” She had to laugh at the humor of it all. Lindsey did too.

“You’re seriously going to complain _ now _?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Emily apologizes quickly, still laughing at herself.

“I had a really great time today. Thank you,” Lindsey mentions softly as they turn quiet.

“Yeah, me too,” Emily grins, “You don’t have to keep thanking me, though.”_ I should be thanking you. _

Linsdey shrugs. “I mean it though. For all of it… I- I kinda found myself wishing I had realized sooner so that we could have had days like that together already.”

“Linds, we _ have _ had days like that together already.” She says it to comfort the girl, but she secretly wishes the same.

“Days where I got to kiss you and and and flirt on purpose?” Both of their faces turn a little pink at how forward that was.

“I guess not…” Emily concedes.

“I like doing that.”

“Me too,” Emily smiles at Lindsey’s quiet confession. “Wanna do it again?”

Lindsey laughs and kicks her heel into Emily’s thigh. “You are _ so _ annoying,” she says through laughing gasps as Emily pulls herself out from under Lindsey’s legs and moves to hover over her. She places a trail of kisses from the back of Lindsey’s jaw to her lips, pecking them a few times before she says, “Maybe, but I love you.” 

She says it without really thinking. She only realizes the pressure it may put on Lindsey to say it back as she’s about to kiss her again and it forces her to stop. 

“Sorry, I-”

“I love you too.”

Emily’s words get caught in her throat at the declaration. She stops with her mouth wide open, staring down at the bright eyes below her that are so loving, she can’t doubt the intention behind the words.

Her mouth shuts closed slowly, her mouth goes dry, and she has trouble swallowing nothing down her throat.

She wants to say something. Anything. But she can’t. 

Instead, she kisses Lindsey. She kisses her like the words that can’t verbally leave her lips will somehow leave them physically. 

“This is not at all how I saw today going,” she says through a watery laugh against Lindsey’s lips. “_ Holy shit _.”

Lindsey moves in to kiss her again, but Emily turns her face as she pulls her phone out of her back pocket, clicking the lock button as Lindsey’s lips collide with her cheek.

“_ Damnit _.”

“What?” Lindsey asks worriedly as she retracts her face from Emily’s. 

“It’s past 12 already. I didn’t do it.” She frowns as she puts her phone away and looks back to Lindsey’s awaiting face. Lindsey knows exactly what she's talking about.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Lindsey whispers and shakes her head before leaning up and stopping her lips lightly against Emily’s. “I loved you before midnight, you fool.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there it is! they are literal children in this. both big, soft dummies. I'm gonna give this one more chapter to close it off. lmk how you liked it! (and pls don't yell at me for the wait I'm sry)

**Author's Note:**

> hey! hope u liked that! pls leave me comments and/or asks on Tumblr and lmk what you think!  
I hope any soran warriors that found this enjoyed it!!!!


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